Nicolas Catinat

Nicolas Catinat (1 September 1637-22 February 1712) was a Marshal of France under King Louis XIV of France.

Biography
Nicolas Catinat entered the Gardes Francaises at a young age, and he fought at Lille in 1667 during the War of Devolution. He rose to the rank of Brigadier in 1677 and Lieutenant-General in 1688, having served in the 1676-1678 campaigns in Flanders during the Franco-Dutch War. At the opening of the War of the Grand Alliance, he fought at Philippsburg, and he captured Nice and Villefranche from Savoy in 1691. In 1693, after forcing Savoy to defect to the French alliance, Catinat was made a Marshal of France. At the beginning of the War of the Spanish Succession, he fought in northern Italy, and his defeat at the hands of Eugene of Savoy at Carpi led to Francois de Neufville becoming the new commander in Italy. He died at Saint-Gratien in 1712.